Politico Morning Education reports that states are divided about whether to take Betsy DeVos’ advice and distribute federal funds based on enrollment, not need. This is her way of sending federal money to private schools, including elite private schools. She has been rebuked by both Republican leaders like Lamar Alexander and Democrats including Patty Murray and Bobby Scott. DeVos is not backing down and is trying to find a way of mandating her wishes, despite Congressional objections.
STATES PUSH BACK AGAINST STEERING CORONAVIRUS FUNDS TO PRIVATE SCHOOLS: Despite DeVos’ call to allow private school kids access to coronavirus stimulus funds, Republican-led states like Oklahoma, Mississippi and Indiana are refusing to, and so are Maine, Washington, Pennsylvania, New Mexico and Wisconsin.
— DeVos told states that they should steer a greater share of their coronavirus relief to private school students than would be usual under federal education law. She issued a policy that directed school districts to base the allocation on total enrollment in the private schools, rather than poverty levels, and could issue a rule in the next few weeks to get states to abide by it.
— Ten states say they will go along with DeVos, including Tennessee and Texas. Some states told POLITICO they’re trying to decide what to do or playing it safe by temporarily setting aside the additional money that would go to private school kids.
— Education departments in Missouri, Arizona, Connecticut, California, South Carolina, New York, Oregon and D.C. are still reviewing the guidance. Meanwhile, officials in Colorado, Illinois and Ohio are advising districts to calculate the equitable share based on students in poverty, but to set aside the difference in funding, as DeVos recommended.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Will Betsy the Brutal become Trump’s Heinrick Himmler if Trump becomes dictator for life?
For anyone interested in the actual memo with guidance, find it here. Private schools do not need to report poverty status in order to get funds.
Click to access FAQs-Equitable-Services.pdf
See the actual document defining equity here. Basically private schools that seek funds do not need to report on their enrollments of students living in poverty (eligible for free and reduced price lunch). “Equity” to DeVos means the private schools for wealthy students get the same as the other schools serving students who are poor. If you apply, equity means equal. https://oese.ed.gov/files/2020/04/FAQs-Equitable-Services
more and more “equity” in school parlance is becoming exactly this: wealthy schools getting “their share”
The goal of the DeVos’ plan is to move maximum amounts of money into private pockets while ignoring the needs of public school students.
Has she accomplished anything on behalf of the 90% of students and families who use public schools since this crisis started?
Her single work focus is on funding private schools?
So we’re all paying hundreds of federal employees to act as professional critics of public schools and promote private schools? The schools that serve 3% of the country?
They’re just AWOL on public schools, other than giving speeches scolding them. Is this a “job”, technically? Seems like we could get anti-public school lobbying from existing private sector lobbying groups. Not clear why we’re all paying for it.
Nothing for public school students and families, from an “ed reform movement” that supposedly exists to improve public education. No effort or work expended at all. Our schools and students don’t exist.
Not one positive idea or effort in a historic crisis that closed every public school in the country. No advocacy or assistance of any kind. Where was the US Secretary of Education during this crisis? Lobbying for private schools and bashing public schools.
She does not care to serve public schools. She only sees public schools as a host for her parasitic ventures. She wants to destroy them.
Ed reform have made themselves irrelevant to public schools and public school students and families. They simply perform no work on our behalf. The best we can get out of these folks are attempts to limit the damage they do in their ideological crusade, and we have the privilege of paying thousands of them, at the federal and state level.
They return no value to public school students, and they dominate elite policy circles.
The whole crew could stop showing up for work and there isn’t a single public school student in this country who would know the difference. I personally feel better about hiring and paying school bus drivers. That’s a much better use of public funds.
Here’s the US Department of Education website:
https://www.ed.gov/
A “blog” promoting private and charter schools, and for the 90% of students who attend public schools? School shooting prevention.
That’s how these folks see your children- not as students but as potential criminals.
I suppose that’s what we get when we hire no one who uses or attended a public school in a country where 90% of the public used or attended public schools. We get ridiculous snobs who have contempt for our schools and our kids.